Superboy and the lightning thief
by Ancient Arbiter
Summary: Percy was born more than a demigod; his mom was an alien of great power. Now with his mom missing and the world in chaos Percy must become more than a man or even a demigod.
1. Chapter 1

**Sup Ancient Arbiter here.I was reading this chapter and saw it needed some editing. I've had this story in my mind for awhile and now I hope you like it. **

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**Chapter one: Beginning**

I never asked for this life, but it was the life I was given and with it came the burden of the world. My story started with a story that you may already know of, but with a different person. My mom was the child, that the man Jor-el sent to earth. Mara Van-le was her name, but you may know her as Sally Jakson aka Superwoman. You see Kal-el was never born, so Jor-el decided to take krypton's new born princess and let her have a chance at life. Anyway so she was sent to earth, found by a nice couple, discovered her powers and started her journey.

But, when she was five her parents Jim and Laura Jackson, both died in a plane crash 150 miles south of Lake Ontario at 3 A.M. No one survived the accident and the cause of the crash is still left unknown, so she was raised by her uncle Rich Jackson. During mom's last year of high school, Rich died of cancer, leaving mom to have to work small jobs, because she had dropped out of high school to take care of him. It was those events that made her decide to become the symbol that many people came to see, as the symbol of hope for this dieing world. Years later she met Poseidon (the god of the sea and earthquakes), they happened to meet because she noticed his trident as she could see through the Mist.

The mist is this magic layer that covers the truth of what's really going on before you. So they fell in love, and after spending years with Poseidon, mom told him of her heritage. Even going as far as showing him the Fortress of Solitude, and teaching him the Kryptonian language and alphabet. Poseidon kept mom a secret from his brother, Zeus (lord of the sky's and king of the gods). When I was conceived, Poseidon was forced to return to the sea. After I was born, mom took me to the fortress to be raised, and trained to use my powers. Now since I was born of a Kryptonian and a god, instead of losing powers like a human/Kryptonian hybrid. I gained powers and other great tricks that would help me down the road. My name is Pey-Van or Percy Jackson in human, and soon people would come to know me as Superboy. The next major chapter of my life was when I was twelve years old, and I went to Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Am I a troubled kid? Not really, I had to fake who I was, to hide what I really was. Later things really started going bad that May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan. Twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know it sounds like torture, most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.

You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep. I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy, was I wrong. "See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.

This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. Grover was an easy target; he was scrawny, he cried when he got frustrated, and he was a sayter in hiding Yeah I knew what he was since my mom told me about the greek/roman gods when I was eight and decided it was best I knew what was ahead of me. Grover was a cool guy that could make me laugh like when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria and he would run like at track runner even if he faked to have a led problem.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour, he rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides.

I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say,

"Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said.

"You're absolutely right." Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art, finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said,

"Will you shut up?" It came out louder than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" My face was totally red. I said.

"No, sir." Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.

"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents? I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.

"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."

"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king Titan,and he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters "

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.

" and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend.

"Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too; Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. I thought about his question, and shrugged.

"I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming, I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner.

"Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." I wanted to get angry, this guy had no right to judge me. I knew I had a legacy to live up to and he didn't have to push me hard. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else. Despite the fact that I faked dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C in my life. No he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch; the class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. That sent some signals for me since we've been getting massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others, a few seconds later we heard police cars and gun fire. We all turned to see a car chase and following was a woman in a red and blue suit with a red cape. I smiled; I was always cool to see my mom on the job off saving the day. After the camotion died we returned to what we were doing.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean I'm not a genius." Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said,

"Can I have your apple?" I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue before I saw Mr. Brunner park his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times. 'Count to ten, get control of your temper.' But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming.

"Percy pushed me!"

"Darn water powers." I silently swore in Kryptonian. Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering:

"Did you see "

" the water "

" like it grabbed her " I didn't listen to what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.

"Now, honey "

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.

"But "

"You will stay here." Grover looked at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." Nancy Bobofit smirked, I gave her my I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast? I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. Yeah right sucker it's Kryptonian genes and i'm a good actor apparently I went after Mrs. Dodds, halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop, but apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum,when I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty, Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous, it's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. I did the safe thing. I said.

"Yes, ma'am." She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket.

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

"I'll I'll try harder, ma'am." I said, thunder shook the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I didn't know what she was talking about, all I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book;hey I had get some cash somehow and I don't like the book.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. 'A fury' I thought. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me and grabbed me in her claws. "Die, honey!" She snarled,

"I don't think so!" I roared hitting her with me heat vision leaving a second degree burn mark.

"Arh" she cried releasing me, I then hovered in the air and followed with a swarm a punches. Finally I slammed her into the ground.

"What are you?" she asked me weak.

"Your worst nightmare" I said before I was about to slam my foot into her. But she turned to dust before I could deliver the final blow and I was alone. I went back outside and it had started to rain and Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends, when she saw me.

"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." she said.

"Who?" I said?

"Our teacher. Duh!" I blinked; we had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr and at that moment I knew the mist was involved. She just rolled her eyes and turned away; thunder boomed overhead, I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. Things had starting, I knew something was about to go down, and I would need all the power I had to save the day.

"Jor-el guide me" I said softly in Kryptonian as I then saw Grover and the rest of the class loading on the bus.

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**Hope you like and please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2 please enjoy also I don't own Percy Jackson or any basics Kryptonian facts. Also sorry about that unfortunate incident with this one something happened with the up load.

Chapter 2: Talk with fates

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. Mrs. Kerr was a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas or so the class said. I decided to drop the Mrs. Dodds subject since the mist had the class licked. Grover was a different story as I could easily see the concern in his eyes like he knew what I was. But I knew he couldn't have known about me being kryptonian so I figured he thought I was a regular demigod.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time; I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends; I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.  
Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old fool who didn't know crap in kryptonian. The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. Fine, I told myself, man I was homesick; I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.

And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a liar but I knew he meant well. I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. As exam week got close, I pulled an upstart and scored a 100 on all assignments.  
The evening before my final I paced the room, I knew something was going on and I needed to find more answers. Sadly the fortress was too far away for me to go there and back without questions. So I concentrated and heard Grover's faint voice. So I creped downstairs to the faculty offices to hear better not that I needed to but I was bored. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.  
A voice that was definitely Grover's said, "I'm worried about Percy, sir." "... alone this summer, I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line—"

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"Sir, he saw her..."

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."

"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again.

Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—." I decided to leave but before I did I threw a piece of gum through the glass in the door to cover the whoosh noise I made as I zipped back to my dorm. The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,

"Percy," Mr. Brunner said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best." He was trying to make me feel good about something I was grateful for. His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, "Okay, sir."

"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

"Percy—" But I was already gone, I was ready to leave and return to the Artic to where I truly belonged. On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies to the humans of this world. They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. What I didn't tell them was that I'd be studying more on my people and working to solve the many problems of this world.

"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool." They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed. The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city. During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" Grover nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Wha—what do you mean?" I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?" He winced.

"Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"

"Grover—"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." His ears turned pink. From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card.

"Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer. The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:  
Grover Underwood  
Keeper  
Half-Blood Hill  
Long Island, New York  
(800) 009-0009

"What's Half—"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."

"So that was one of the camps my mom told me I'd have to go to" I thought. I continued to lie knowing full well what was really going on.

"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."

He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."

"Why would I need you?" It came out harsher than I meant it to but I hated people thinking I was weak. Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple.

"Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you." I stared at him thinking now the truth comes out.

"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?" There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath. I decided to walk to the three ladies far enough so Grover couldn't hear. The old ladies were still watching me as I came. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.

"Hail the son of Krypton" The one on the left said as I came up to them.

"Praise the man of steel hero of all hero's that exist or will" the one on the right said.

"Bow to Pey-Van one who shall live forever and reshape the world" The middle one said.

"You speak of things that have not happened can I guess you are the fates" I asked?

"Indeed Kryptonian we are and you are one who's fated for great things" left one said

"You will face many hardships and go through many trails" right one said.

"You must stay strong or else the world is to fall to evils that the world has never seen or forgotten" middle said.

"What of the Kryptonian race will survive after me and my mother passes" I asked?

"We are not fortune tellers" the said getting up to leave, "we'll meet again; but also beware what you over look" And with that they left and I returned to Grover.

"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."

"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."

"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!" Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu. Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you not telling me?" He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve.

"Percy, what did they say back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies? They just wanted to say hi and that they were glad to see someone that would talk to them." He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."

"What last time?"

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to get on my nerves. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could since now I was more eager to get to the arctic so I could investigate more into what was going on.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked. No answer. He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. I really needed to get home.

I thought "If mom didn't know than hopefully Jor-el knew or else we were in for a hell of a ride .

Please review! Also just to let you know Percy will get his sword Riptide. Sorry Again.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Anceint Arbiter here, here's chapter 3 of this series and I want to thank you all for enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 3

Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal. I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was annoying me to the phantom zone, He kept looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering

"Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"

When he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, and made a beeline for the restroom. But, instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and headed to a deserted area before I ran (yeah I have super speed) to my mom's New York place.

Just a little fun facts about my mom;

1. She's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.

2. She never complained or got mad. Not even once.

3. She goes to great lengths to hide our secrets.

One of the biggest example was when she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then he showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was a child, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe cause the guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts. He made my mom's life a utter hell the way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along; like Zod and the Kryptonian council. So basically having to deal with us and her hero job didn't make her life very easy, a prime example would be when I came home.

I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet. Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar.

"So, you're home."

"Where's my mom?"

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been that last six months? Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tusk less walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something. The sight of him made me want to vomit out my food. Gabe managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always the beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our 'guy secret. Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out, like he could he seriously had it backwards.

"I don't have any cash," I told him. He raised a greasy eyebrow. Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else."

"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid him with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he out to carry his own weight. Is that right, Eddie?" Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a tinge of sympathy, he was a good guy and never questioned some things that went on. I bet I could have strung Gabe up and use a blow torch on him, and Eddie wouldn't question or care since he didn't like Gabe that much.

"Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated. Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.

"Fine," I said. I dug a piece of paper out and A screw from my pocket. "enjoy" Gabe opened the paper up and it said: 'Go _ yourself.'

"You think that's funny punk?" Gabe said getting up and grabed my shirt. He tried to force me to the wall but I held my ground. Since mom wasn't here I thought hat this could be one of our guy secrets. I grabbed his arm and twisted it counterclockwise hard.

"Agh" he cried as he tried to get free.

"You might be good for that one stupid task we need you for. But you are not my father and you won't touch me again or harm anyone in this house again." He didn't say anything so I tightened my grip almost breaking his wrist. "I'll take your silence as a yes." I said as released by grip and went to my room."Good to see you again Mr. Eddie." The men just had a blank look to them. I closed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's study. He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer. I dropped my suitcase on the bed.

"Home sweet home." I said in kryptonian. Gabe's smell was almost worse than dipping my head in acid. Then I heard the sweetest sound in the world, my mom's voice.

"Percy?" She opened the bedroom door, and I felt better than I had in months. My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change colors in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She has long brown hair, when she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.

"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!" Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of 'free samples.' The way she always did when I came home. We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour string, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting prosperously expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing alright? I told her what happened at the museum and on the way back in kryptonian since it was the only language we and my dad Poseidon knew so we could talk without people over hearing us.

"This is serious...I have notice some of these thing. My guess is Zeus, your father, and your Uncle are at it and we could be busy with all the rough weather. "

"I think we need to get to the Fortress of Solitude as soon as possible." I told her in Kr, I love that place it was the only place on Earth I felt at home if my mom wasn't with me. From the other room, Gabe yelled,

"Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?" I gritted my teeth didn't that prick ever learn. My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should have been married to a millionaire and have other people go off and save the world for her, not being married to some jerk like Gabe. But for her sake, I tried to be cool around that slob when she was around. Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled,

"Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?" I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for the Fortress. Then we would get out of here.

"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip." Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."

"Of course he will,' my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabe won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works." Gabe softened a bit.

"So this money for your trip it comes from your cloths budget, right?"

"Yes, honey," my mother said. Ha joke's on him my mom had more money than a whole country would know what to do with.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful." Gabe scratched his double chin.

"Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip and maybe if the kid apologizes for my wrist."

"Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot," I thought. "And make you sing soprano for a week." But my mom's eyes warned me not to do anything that might cause questions.

"I'm sorry," I muttered. Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.

"Yeah, whatever," he decided. He went back to his game.

"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to the arctic we'll talk more about what's going on." Her smile returned, and I felt like all my problems left me. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip. About an hour later we were ready to leave. Gabe took a break form his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camero-for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

"Like this?" I said taking out my key and draged it across the trunk.

"You little-" he started but stopped as I raised my hand to catch his blow. Guess he did learn as he held his wrist and I watched him lumber back toward the apartment building, I blew some breath at the door and the screen door slammed shut so hard it shacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon. I got in the Camero and told my mom to step on it. We went to a rental cabin that was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. We had planed to ditch the car there but we decided to stay the night. The cabin was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes.

There was always sand in the sheets and spider in the cabinets, we got there at sunset, and the first thing my mom did was remove her blue Kr ring. Reason being to hide our secret she walked around like a human with no powers, so once she did she regained her powers and looked younger to me but still an adult. We opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work. I guess I should explain the blue food. See, Gabe once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time.

But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and bought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano-was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She has a rebellious streak in her, like me. When it got dark, we made a fire; via heat vision. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. Like when she discovered her powers and even a young age she was playing hero. She also told me about the books she wanted to write and what new ideas she had for the** 'Superman**' comic series she writes. You see since she always wanted to writes stories she decided to write about what she hoped I would turn out like. Yeah I know weird the Superwoman was the creator of the Superman comics. But heck I loved them, it also explains why she had so much money that she hide it from smelly Gabe in several secret accounts.

Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same thing she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.

"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."

"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?" She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.

"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think we'll have to do something." We didn't talk on that subject after that. We decided to test my powers which of course were pretty strong even for my young age; since i'm half Kr and God my powers grow faster but my mom could still whup my butt. That night I had a vivid dream. It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I woke with a start. Outside, it really was storming like a crazy, it was the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. Lightning crackled making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery. With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said,

"Hurricane." Now normally I would say that was crazy. Since Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow. An angry, tortured sound that made our hair stand on end. Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice of someone yelling and pounding on our cabin door. My mother sprang out of the bed in her nightgown and quickly zipped into her Superwoman suit, she did however were a trench coat over it just in case. We both prepared for who was at the door and when my mom threw open the lock and there stood Grover framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't exactly Grover, since he had his goat legs visible to us.

"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"

" Ah you were taking to long and I wanted to get home" I said trying to sound like I was sorry.

"Percy," she said.

"what he was so wrapped up in 'oh no this,this can't be happening that, and always at six grade.'"

"Still it's dangerous out there" Grover said sounding concerned

" Trust me G-man I can handle myself just ask -" I was frozen, looking at Grover. I was having trouble understanding what I was seeing far behind him.

"O Zeus kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. 'It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?' I was too focused on what was going on outside to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek or any of his other questions, mom grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said.

"Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"

So there you go hoped you enjoined and sorry for the wait and as always please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's chapter 4 I hope you like it.

Chapter 4

We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. But I knew my mom could see what was behind us, for she kept her foot on the gas. Truthfully I'd rather fly or use my super speed to get to our destination but we still had Grover around and we couldn't risk him finding out who we are.

"So, you and my mom... know each other?" I asked keeping up my Percy Jackson disguised up. Grover's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us.

"Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."

"Watching me?"

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."

"Sure G-man. So your really part donkey? "Grover let out a sharp, throaty

"Blaa-ha-ha!"I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd pretend it was a nervous laugh.

"Goat!" he cried.

"What?"

"I'm a goat from the waist down."

"You just said it didn't matter."

"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"

"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs? Like Mr. Brunner's myths?"

"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!" I stated in a matter of factually voice.

"Of course."

"Then why did you pretend I was loopy?"

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."

" Grover I already know who I am and the world i'm apart."The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.

"Percy," my mom said. "Be careful what you say or you'll give away too much" that last one was in Kr.

"So who's after us?"

"Not us you and nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"Grover!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"

My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."

"I'm guessing the one, since the others in Chicago."

"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."

"Just as the old ladies said."

"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."

"Whoa. You said 'you.'"

"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"

"You meant 'you.' As in me."

"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."

"Boys!" my mom said.

She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.

"What was that?" I asked.

"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.

"Another mile. Please. Please. Please." Grover pleaded.

Outside, nothing but rain and darkness the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and how I had used my powers on her and I felt like I did something stupid. I then thought about Mr. Brunner, but then there was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded. I knew our invulnerablity would save us so I leaned over and held Grover saving him.

"Percy!" my mom shouted as we got up from the blast. I looked to see my mom cloak practicably destroyed and Grover was ko. So I took off am Jacket and gave it to her to hide the shield on her chest.

"I'm okay..."

"Food," Grover moaned.

"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered. I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.

"Great the bull man"

"Percy you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"

"What?"

Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom, you're coming too."

Her face was pale, her eyes told me she was in pain. Like green Kr was all around us.

"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me." I started carrying Grover and then picked her up to.

"Food!" Grover moaned, a little bull man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises.

"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."

"But..."

"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please." I got mad, I knew I would someday have to go on my own but I wasn't about to lose anyone in the process.

"Come on, Mom."

"I told you "

"Mom! I am not leaving you. " I didn't wait for her answer.

"Pasiphae's son," my mother said very weak.

"I wish I'd didn't known how badly they want to kill me. The pine tree was still way too far a hundred yards uphill at least.

I glanced behind me again. The bull man hunched over the remains of our car, looking in the win dows or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I thank the gods mom had taught me about the different monsters.

"Food?" Grover moaned.

"Shhh," I told him. "Oops."

"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"Sure" Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He'd smelled us. The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. My mother with what strength she had grabbed Grover.

"Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."

I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.

He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.

The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass. We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it with the monster with us. The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.

"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!" But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.

"Mom!" I screamed

She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"

Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.

"Nnnnoooooooooo!" I cried. Anger replaced every emotion in my body. The bull man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.

"Hey!" I screamed, "Hey, stupid! freak!"

"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists. The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge. Time slowed down. As it seemed to do when I move with super speed. I pulled my arm back and slammed it into one of the bull's hand destroying the bones in it's hand. Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.

"Food!" Grover moaned.

I knew he was still out and that meant no holding back. I delivered another strike to it's chest sending it fling back some. I sped behind it and kicked it into the air. I then Jump up and then I slamed it back down to the ground. I landed eloquently and saw it getting up again.

"You are one tough mutha" I said the last past in silence as the beast tried to charge but I inhaled and using my super breath I formed a ice casing on it below the head. I walked up as it struggled to free it'self. I reached up and tore a horn off and stabbed it on the left side of it's chest. I broke free and roared in pain . Thrashing around I jumped onto it's back and grabbed the stump and other horn and and jerked it so fast a snap sound was heard. A flash of golden light erupted and like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped but the storm still rumbled, and in the distance. I smelled the likes of livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I felt weak as I recognized that magic had been at work to weaken me, I was also trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover I wasn't going to let him go.

The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said,

"He's the one. He must be."

"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

There you go please review, also just to let you know magic is one of the few things that can affect Percy. IT is why his mom was weak like a kryptonian near green Kr.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 is up for you and I hope you like it.

Chapter 5

I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food. I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed Ambrosia that tasted like buttered popcorn. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon. When she saw my eyes open, she asked.

"What will happen at the summer solstice?" I managed to croak,

"A lot." She looked around; as if afraid someone would over hear.

"What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..." Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with the good stuff. The next time I woke up, the girl was gone. A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them- on his cheeks, his forehead, and the backs of his hands. When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt. On the table next to me was a tall drink. It had to be Nectar, it had a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. My hand was so weak since the magic must have recently faded and my strength hadn't return. I almost might;ve dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.

'I need to get closer to the sun' I thought. Since my powers recharge via sun rays both red and yellow rays; well you get the point.

"Careful," a familiar voice said. Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, not the goat boy. I wished that all that had been a nightmare. Like my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason.

"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this." Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap. Inside was the bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.

"The Minotaur," I spat with much venom in my voice.

"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"

"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull." Grover shifted uncomfortably.

"You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"

"My mom. Is she really ..." He looked down. I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight. My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. I was alone; an endangered species as some would say. With her gone the world might not have hope for survival.

"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm- I'm the worst satyr in the world." He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole. "Oh, Styx!" he mumbled. Thunder rolled across the clear sky. As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, at least he s being honest now . Grover the satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even Minotaur"s. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light. All because the gods we mad and used magic to weaken us to practically human.

I sat alone not caring what was going on around me. I was an orphan. I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would go live at the Fortress. Learn everything Jor-el knew and avenge my mother. And what really bothered me was who would've known we were Kryptonian and would need magic to cripple us. Grover was still sniffling. The poor satyr looked as if he expected to be hit.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."

"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"

"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."

"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.

"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here" He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips. I recoiled at the taste, because it tastes like chocolate-chip cookies. And not just any cookies- my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay. Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.

"Was it good?" Grover asked. I nodded. "What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "I should've saved you some." His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."

"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Home made." He sighed.

"And how do you feel?"

"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit around the world."

"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff"

"Sure G-man whatever you say." He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting." The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse. My legs felt a little wobbly, trying to walk that far.

"Note to self-start wearing a solar suit" I mumbled. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go. As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath. We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I got a better look at the camp my mom chose for me to go to. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball.

Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode some Pegasus done to a barn. Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me Ambrosia was leaning on the porch rail next to them. The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father.

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron..." He pointed at the guy whose back was to me. I smirked and walked up to my ex teacher.

"You need to work on your acting Chiron. But the wheelchair was a nice touch." The Latin teacher turned and looked at me in disbelief.

"Percy how-" he said.

"How did I know Grover was satyr and you were really a centaur? I pay attention to little details and hints my mom gave me to watch out for. So your mom told you kid Yep at age six. Just so we could be prepared for a monster attack. Mr. Di now we going to play pinochle or not." Chiron offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh.

"Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"If I got banished to a camp for the kids of the gods. I d be mad too." I said as I scooted a little farther away from him.

"Annabeth?" Chiron called to the blond girl. She came forward and Chiron introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now." Annabeth said.

"Sure, Chiron." She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight. She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say,"You killed a Minotaur? How did a wimp like you do that?" Instead she said."You drool when you sleep."

"And you need to stop biteing your nails and mumbling to yourself. Because I m not your prophesied hero who'll get you to the real world for some quest." Then she got mad and sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her. "Don t bother I won t be staying" I called to her but she was gone. "Spawn of Athena. Good luck finding something to take me down" I mumbled to myself. "So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"

"Not Mr. Brunner," Chiron said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."

"So where s Lupa these day?" I asked. Chiron dropped his cards.

"Ah she s-"

"Relax. I know plenty about the gods of Olympus to know of their other half and about the other place." Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly.

"Young man, it s best you keep that to yourself. And also names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."

"Sorry."

"I must say, Percy," Chiron broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've

wasted my time."

"Trust me. I m not like others. "

"Oh?" Mr. D asked.

"Let s just say I m not like the others around here" I spoke. The sadness clearly visible in my voice. "So you came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked. Chiron nodded.

"Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother; let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"

"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.

"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less. "So why do you guys seem intent on keeping me here?" Mr. D snorted.

"I asked the same question." The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile. Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.

"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"

"She told me more than you all have. And she wanted to keep me close. Since there were people out for our blood. "Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"

"What?" I asked.

He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.

"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."

"Orientation film?" I asked.

"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know-" he pointed to the horn in the shoe box- "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods- the forces you call the Greek gods- are very much alive."

"Okay are we back tracking? I told you already. I know this stuff and now I want to leave this place."

"Fine by me I won t stop you" Mr. D said.

"Percy," Chiron said, "You must understand the dangers out in the real world? If you leave you would be a target for hundreds of monsters and immortals"

"I have a safe house outside the states that I could go. The gods can t reach me once I pass the border."

"If you travel by air; father could."

"Heh don t need to. I find flying enjoyable for some things but with this recent weather I d not risk it. So did you recover anything of my mom's or my stuff?"

"Yeah hold on I"ll get them" Grover said running into the house and came back with my back pack and my mom s bag. I dug through my mom s bag and found the box I knew might come in handy for escaping. I slid the lid open a little and dug a small box out.

"So where is this safe house anyway?" Chiron asked.

"I can t tell you that. Safety protocol and that stuff like that."

"You re not helping your case by keeping secrets" Mr. D said like I was guilty of some crime.

"What are you my lawyer?" I asked.

"Watch your mouth kid I could blast you to pieces. Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.

"No, sir." I said smugly as I opened the smaller box and everyone at the table except me held themselves in pain. I slid the contents out and reviled it to be my mom s supply of Hybrid Kr. Hybrid Kr. doesn't affect Kryptonians as it works like Kr for humans, mystical beings/creatures, and even those of Divinity like the gods.

"I believe you might want to reconsider your attitude."

"Percy please" Chiron pleaded.

"Sorry I forgot you d two would get caught in its radiation field" I said addressing Chiron and Grover. I slipped the small gem back into its box and let them recondition themselves.

"Percy where did you get that rock?" Grover asked.

"It was a souvenir from my mom's parents. It was a piece of a meteor that hit in the 80's"

"Strange. Why is it we've never found another piece like it?" Chiron asked.

"I don t know? We ll I m done see you chumps later." I said throwing my cards down. Grabbing my gear and my mom's bag and started to walk off. I went for a bit before I heard the sound of people following me. I slung the bags onto my back and leaped onto a tree. I saw that there was a group of six people obviously campers sent to bring me back. Something felt off to me so I decided to listen for a bit and then I heard the sound of a beating heart. I spun around and grabbed something invisible. I decided to heck with this and tossed the invisible person at the group and in their confusion I zipped outta there. Now there are two ways to the Fortress of Solitude. 1. the long arctic journey. and 2.A small group of caves that made up one. This one was from some of the early Kryptonians that came to Earth. I decided on the long way so no one watching could find the caves. The cold weather never bothered me and it was a nice run. But since I couldn't fly it took me several seconds to get there. The Fortress is made of hundreds if not thousands of crystals that look to clash into each other. I finally made it inside and I was met by the over seer of our people's knowledge. The Ai of the Fortress and man who saved my mom's life. Jor-el.

**"Hello my prince."**

"Hello Jor-el."

**"Tell me why is your mother not with you?"**

"My mother is dead. She was murdered by a Monster sent by a God to kill me."

**"Then you are all that is left of the Kryptonian race."**

"I know there is still much of my training that we have not I ask you Jor-el teach me. Make me as strong as my mother."

**"Pey-Van, while your mother may have been from Krypton. And her powers come from our people. It is her life on Earth that made her strong."**

"I know Jor-el but if it was not for me she'd...still...be...alive" I cried at that moment as the weight of the reality hit me.

**"We have much work to do. Are you ready Pey-Van?"**

"Yes Jor-el."

I hope you like the chapter please review. Also hybrid Kr was not made up by me.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey there I know you've been waiting so here's Pey-van's (Percy"s)next chapter in life. Enjoy.

Chapter 6

I didn't sleep for two days straight or i think it was two as the arctic doesn't give you much idea what time it is. I stood at the alter of main chamber and Kryptonian symbols played before me teaching me new things. The symbols faded meaning I was done for now.

**"You should rest my Prince."**

"I can't I don't have time to."

**"I will still be here when I must insist you get some rest."**

"I'm not going to when this argument am I?"

**"No."**

"Very well. Good night Jor-el." I went to the room I kept in the fortress and it felt good to be back. My room was also made of the crystals and was refurbished to meet the needs of a teenager. King size bed, xbox 360, huge flat screen TV, the works. The fortress had it's own powers supply we never had to worry about electricity or heating. As I lay down to rest I suddenly went out, my guess I was more tried then I realized In my dream I was in a large place like the fortress of solitude only it looked more like a royal palace. I sat on a throne and then my dad came walking in.

"Hello Percy. I understand you left camp Half-blood."

"Indeed, now can you tell me why magic was used on mom and me too weaken us to near human?"

"Excuse me?"

"When mom and I fought the walking load of beef. Magic was working like Kryptonite on mom and when I used my powers I started to feel my powers leave me. So why was that when your the only one we told about us? Because of that mom was killed and I've be working like a dog to fill her place and keep the world safe."

"Percy! I had nothing to do with you mother. I would never do anything to hurt you or your mother."

"Well someone knows and because of that we're all in trouble."

"That is why I came. Your mother is still alive. She's being held hostage by Hades."

"Why would he target us?"

"Several days after the pack of the big three. Zeus killed Hades last kids and their mother out of fear of the prophecy."

"I remember reading the copy you gave mom. I still have trouble translating it."

"Well when Zeus had a child Hades wanted revenge so he sent a army of monsters to kill her. She was escorted by Grover along with two other demigods. Annabeth Chase Athena's daughter and Luke Castillen son of Hermes. The two made it to the camp only because Thalia as the girl was called sacrificed herself to hold the monsters off. So to save his daughter Zeus turned her into the Large pine tree you saw at Camp Half-blood."

"So Hades wants revenge on you for what happened then?"

"No. Zeus's master bolt and Hades helm of terror are missing. Zeus and Hades thinks it was you. Even though you've never been to the underworld or Olympus."

"So I go to the Underworld get mom back and bring her here outside their power."

"No. Percy you must return to camp half-blood to receive a quest and prophecy Or else the remaining gods will learn of the real you. I have already hid you from them whenever you fly or if they try to spy on you but if you head straight for Hades full Kryptonian raged you will only cause more problems."

"Very well dad. I will do this as a man."

"Good luck my son." Poseidon said before I woke up.

"Jor-el" I roared as I packed a new bag

**"Yes my prince?"**

"I'm going back. My father just told me mom is still alive and i'm going to get her back."I said sling the bag over my shoulder.

**"Very well. I wish you the best of Luck Pey-Van."** I modded and zipped out of there and in not time. I made it close to the camp before I slowed down and walked to the huge tree.

"I'm so sorry Thalia" I said as I placed a hand on the tree. I could have sworn I felt a heart beet but I ignored it. I walked to the big house and meet up with Chiron.

"Sup?"

" back?" He said surprised. I saw Mr.D had a I don't care look to him.

"Oh goody the runaway returns." Mr.D said. I dug in my pocket and help up the lead case. That got both of them to move back a little in fear.

"I'm just here for a few days. Then i'm leaving for a quest to save my mom." I told them replacing the case in my pocket.

"Well then let's get you a spot at the cabins to sleep in." Chiron said leading me out the door. I could hear his heart beat faster from his fear. We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed at me. Another said,

"That's him." Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something. Like I was a freak that you see a a circus,that go to see do tricks and throw stuff at.

"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see." We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort." He also told me Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead. I really didn't care since I already knew this. I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.

As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans. Chiron said.

"The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Thanks. Chiron I already know all you've told me about Gods. So can we skip to the part were I go to my dad's cabin for sleep."

"Do you know who you Dad is?" Chiron asked.

"Yes, but I can't tell you that till he clams me." I could tell he wanted to ask more questions, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"What do you do when it rains?" I asked playing looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. They were meant for each god's kid or a shrine for a goddess. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.

"Hestia" I whispered said girl turned to face me with widen eyes. I wave and went back to inspecting the cabins. The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.

"Correct," Chiron said. Cabin three wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway, before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said.

"Come along, Percy."Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red. I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves.

"We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.

"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here. Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us." The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When we reached her, she looked me over critically. In her book there were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir." She said like he gave her something nasty.

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home." Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. A caduceus. Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.

"Is sleeping in the woods optional?" I asked.

"Sorry but no, Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He galloped away toward the archery range. I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on." Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

Annabeth said, "Undetermined." Everybody groaned. A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.

"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and would've sworn she was blushing. She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."

"Yeah till I tell you who my dad is, I get claimed, or leave for my guest. Please continue Luke. " I asked.

"You're undetermined? Right?" Luke asked. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers." I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

"I might be. But I know who he is." I stated setting my bag down. "If it is messed with I will hurt you all without even having to do anything. BUT open this" I held the small case up and they all gasped.

"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it."

"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and tried to dragged me outside. But to humor he I walked out the cabin. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?" She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath.

"I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill a monster, left camp, threw you blond butt at a crowd, the went to my safe house."

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth spat me. "You know how much trouble you cased?"

"Nope."

"Agh!...So you a big super's fan?"

"Supers? Like Super Woman and the Superman comics?"

"You tell me, with Jor-el and Mara Van-le. Who is that any way? Could that be called a nerd for that?"

"How do you know those names?"

"You talk in your sleep."

"You care crazy. I read the newest issue before that and it was stuck in may head." Then a husky voice yelled.

"Well! A newbie!" I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which meant 'Go to the crows!'"You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"

Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," I said, recovering my wits. "But my mom wrote several issues with him fighting Superman."

"Wait your mom wrote?"Annabeth asked.

"Yeah she writes the Superman comics. She was the one who created to Superman. And he beat Ares down several times."

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it, wise girl." Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep. I got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom. I didn't try to fight as in the open there was too may witness's but once we get to a conceal area oh it was on. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom. Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I didn't do anything.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets.

"Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."Her friends snickered. Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.

"Show time."I said as I was now moving my body fast enough that everyone else was standing still to me. First I got out of her grasp and got to work.

By the time I went back to normal speed I saw Annabeth leave the Bathroom in shock

Annabeth said, "How did you ..."

"I can't say, but are there bears around here?"

"One or two why?"

"Agh" a voice screamed and the campers rushed to see what was going on. I didn't go but if you went you'd see those girls chained to a tree and covered in honey. I laughed to myself as that was probably the only prank That I would be able to do with my powers while they didn't know who my dad is. When they came back Clarisse look at me with pure rage.

"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead." I probably should have let it go, but I didn't.

"See any bear out there lunch meat?" Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing stared at me. I could tell she was trying to figure out how I did that trick.

"What?" I asked. "What are you think-ing?"

"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."

Okay there we go Percy's back to camp and already made a enemy. I apologies for the Negative chapters and in about a month or two I will remove them once my poll closes. So please vote in it to tell me what stories you want to read. Although some of you may not know what I meant in the summary's of them. I apologies cause I did the best I could on those so you may have to look up the parts you don't know online or just PM me. Also I have been thinking of add other dc heroes to the mix. Like Backendorf would be the armored hero **Steel.** He's a real Dc Hero; just go to Wikipedia and you'll find him. So if there is some other hero or villain you would want to see here let me know via PM. I thank you all and as always please Review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Greetings loyal reader here's Pey-Van's (Percy's) next chapter in life. I hope you like it.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Fans, smoked dinner, and a confession.**

Word of a blur and the tree incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about me being a god. Or maybe they were just surprised that someone got a fast one like that in that Clarisse girl. Annabeth showed me a few more places like the: the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. I was going to have a lode of fun with that thing. Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the secrets. But there are somethings going on and the less you know the better."

"Whatever. I can't see why your so secretive. Who do you think you are Superwoman?"

"I'm a guy."

" ?"

"Just keep your eyes pealed things are going to get crazy soon." She looked at me skeptically and I could tell she was trying to read me. But again I was taught by a great actress and could hide things good.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth finally spoke.

"I'll ask Chiron."

I stared into the lake, wishing my mom could be here with me. I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so I was surprised when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend. I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads, They maybe but even they don't deserve to be ignored." Annabeth frowned.

"I don't get you Percy. You look like you've been out fighting monsters, you don't seem fazed by all this, and you know all the things we learn after a year here."

"My mom wanted me to be safe for when I was to leave her. So she taught me all things I would need to survive. The only reason she's missing is because someone got a lucky." Annabeth nodded excepting my abridged version of my story. "So your Athena's daughter?"

"Yes. How did you know that."

"Grey eyes, thinker's poker face, usually quite and thinking." I stated. My mom was told these things and told me to know who I was dealing with."

"Your mom sounds like a great woman."

"She is. She's one of a kind."

"I would've liked to meet her."

"When I find her i'll be sure to introduce you to her."

"Cool." Annabeth said thinking again.

"Who's your dad?" I asked curious, her hands tightened around the pier railing. Her heart beat rose and I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.

"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

"So ... you're a year-rounder?"I said to change the subject. Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?" She twisted the ring on her necklace.

"None of your business."

"Okay sorry." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So...you like Superwoman?"

"She is the only mortal woman I look up too. I remember once when I was younger I had wondered into the city and a truck nearly ran me over. Then she swooped down and saved me. I remember the feeling when she held me as I cried from nearly getting killed. It was warm and kind like a child in her mothers arms feeling safe and secure. Like there was no problems for you and you just wanted to stay there forever. But if you tell anyone about that i'll skin you alive."

"Okay." I said surprised by all that. I could understand what she felt I felt it every time my mom held me. She just had this feeling of safety to her."

"Did you know the Gods still think she's one of their kids or descendants." Annabeth said again I was surprised.

"What but she's Kryptonian. A alien, she even said so."

"Some people just don't believe that. And because of her the camp store sells Superman comics. They sell very quick when a new issue comes." I smirked mom was again proven to be so cool.

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council. But right after we visited last year," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And I thought you might know something."

"I had a dream last night and I saw a eagle on a high pederastul and a guy dressed like a jester running way with a lightning bolt." I lied not wanting to tell her my dad told me everything.

"Zeus's master bolt was stolen!" Annabeth said surprised.

"I guess, but right now you have class and I need to talk to some...I'll see you later Annabeth." I said running away to the hearth. "Hello lady Hestia"

"You know it's me?" The young looking goddess asked.

"Indeed my mom told me what to look for. That is to know who i'm dealing with."

"You are a great boy Percy your father speaks of you and your mother very much."

"Really?"

"Indeed Pey-Van" Hestia said in Kryptonian.

"How do you-?"

"I knew your mother well and she was like a daughter to me. We meet when she was young and after her parents died I stepped in to help her with her powers" She said the last part in a whisper.

"So you know?"

"Indeed but I swore on the river styx never to reveal this information to anyone but hose who knew your secret and you my god son."

"Wait you my god mother." I said remembering back to when I was an infant and a kind and beautiful woman held me in her arms and making me laugh.

" Indeed...you're meant for great things Percy your mother was once given a Vision of a man in a red and mostly blue solar suit saving the lives and hope of all the people in the world."

"What?" I asked.

"The comics and the character Kal-el they are about you. But i'm sure you knew that. Now it's about time for dinner and I must leave for now. But if you ever want to talk come to the Heath and place a piece of wood in it. I will be there for you ."

"Thank you my god mother."

"Just call me aunt Hestia" She smiled turning to the hearth.

"Okay aunty Hestia." She smiled any was absorbed into the fire leaving me alone. Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor. The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.

"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store and A Superman comic..]" I smiled, took them and flipped through the comic. This was the Superman Resurrection issue. The one were Kal-el get's revived from the dead and let's the world know the real Superman was back

"Thanks." I said.

"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"

"I've had worse." I said. "You read these?"

"Yeah," he said. " I loved them as a kid and after years of reading them they stuck to me."

"Shame we don't have a hero like him to help us." I said groggily to make it seem like I was sad about something.

"Well we got Superwoman and she dose a great job." a guy said. He was about a few years younger then me.

"Percy meet Conner Stoll and His twin Travis. They're Son's of Hermes like me."

"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.

He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, younger then me and he had a twin with him.

"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.

"Once." I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story I heard of him had anything to do with how he got his looked up and managed a smile."Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that. Even if I could see and fill his heart rate speeding at a high pace like he was fibbing or hiding something.

The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance I knew it was a conch shell, Luke yelled.

"Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and Artemis's cabin which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down. We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few Dryads came out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.

In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads. At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I decided to stand instead as I wasn't about to get into that mess. I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair. Weird I know, since Athena usually has black hair. Must be her wanting to disprove that whole stupid blonde thing.

Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being chained to a tree and covered in honey. Because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends. Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass.

"To the gods!" Everybody else raised their glasses.

"To the gods!" Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said.

"Speak to it. Whatever you want—nonalcoholic, of course." I said.

"Blue Cherry Coke with a shot of monster and a vinella twist." The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt and I took a cautious sip. Perfect. I drank a toast to my mother.

"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion.

"Come on," Luke told me. As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest straw berry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll. Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."

"You're kidding." His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food. But that would explain why my mom sometime burnt our food. But slightly brunet sometimes had a better taste to the food she made. i mean it was always good even without doing that. Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes

"Hermes." I was next. I whispered

"To my dad Poseidon and aunt Hestia" Finally, I made a silent plea. "Thanks for everything and please help me get my mom beck the world and I still need her." The smell smelt nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh.

"Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table. "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected sounding afraid as I help the small case up for them to see. "Right. Ah, now run along to your campfire. Go on." Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.

"Hey can were make reguest." I asked.

"Sure one of the Apollo kid said." "I leaned over and whispered the song into his ear." I think that's a song a lot of us can relate to. Fine but only if you start us off. He handed me a guitar and I tune it and began stinging a few cords:

**I can't stand to fly**

**I'm not that naive**

**i'm just out to find...the better part of me.**

The camper started following along to the words at that point and some kid was drumming on drum that I had no idea were he got it.

**I'm more then a bird.-I'm more then a plane**

**I'm more then some pretty face beside a train**

**And it's not easy to be me.**

**I wish the I could cry**

**Fall upon my knees**

**Find A way to lie**

**About a home I'll never see.**

**It may sound absurd, but don't be naive**

**even heroes have have the the right to bleed.**

Many campers nodded and some but hands on some wounds they had.

**I may be disturbed, but won't you concede**

**even heroes have the right to bleed.**

**I may be disturbed, but won't you concede**

**even heroes have the right to dream.**

**And it's not easy to be me.**

I looked up and I could swear in the distance I saw my dad, aunt Hestia, two blond haired guys I recognized from pictures as Apollo and Hermes, there was also a twelve year old girl with alburn hair; Artemis, a woman more beautiful then than I've ever seen obviously Aphrodite and woman with dark raven hair and slightly pale skin; Persephone. They stood listening and Apollo was nodding his head to the song.

**Up,up and away, away from me.**

**It's alright you can all sleep sound tonight.**

**I'm not crazy or anything.**

I stung a few more cords and this was were the song got personal for me.

**I can't stand to fly**

**I'm not that naive**

**Men weren't meant to ride with clouds between their knees.**

**I'm only a man in a silly red sheet.**

**Digging for Kryptonite on this one way street.**

**I'm only a man in a funny red sheet.**

**Looking for special things inside of me.**

**Inside of me!**

**Inside of me!**

**Yeah inside of me!**

**In-side of me!**

**I'm only a man in a funny red sheet.**

**Looking for a dream.**

**I'm only a man in a funny red sheet.**

**And it's not easy.**

**oohh oo ohhhh**

**It's not easy to be...ME!**

The camper clapped aloud and I smiled feeling a little better to get that off my chest. I looked and saw that the Gods had vanished as well. Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite. When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly. That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood. And it was okay for a slow relaxing time but I had a job to do and I needed to hurry.

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**Okay there you go for a new Chapter I hope you like it. The song is; Five For Fighting - Its Not Easy To Be Me. Again I hope you like it please review. also remember to check out my home page to see what new stories I have posted and updated. So see you all later.**


	8. Chapter 8 part 1

**Greetings I have a new chapter for you please enjoy.****  
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**Chapter 8 part 1**.** _Its a bird, it's a plane._**

I dreamed that night. I was in the city and there was two roads in front of me. One lead to a clean street were everyone looked happy. The other one lead to a distroied city. And I got a feeling a joy coming from it. Then a voice that sounded like my dad said.

**"One say your going to have to make a choice."**

I then saw two men flying across the sky and that interested me.

**"One day your going to have to decide what kind of man your going to be".**

The two men descended towards me and I was surprised.

**"Who ever that man is good character."**

One was Kal-el

**"Or bad."**

The other was General Zod.

**"He's going to change the world."**

I shot up awake in a cold sweat. That was a strange dream. I morning would feel cold to some and with it being quite I snuck out of the cabin and got ready for the day. The morning fog layer over the beach, the smell of sweet strawberry in the fields were a nice wake up for me. I saw the Demeter kids working the in fields and I saw that one girl, Katie Gardner I think her name was. She seemed nice and had a calm and caring attitude to her. She smiled to me and waved.

I waved back and went on. I showered and came to a delema. In my bag was my suit. The one Jor-el made me that could fit any size and was resistant to magic. I was more like a shirt and because of the kryptonian tech in it it was easy to hide under my shirt. But was I ready to even go around wearing the family crest. Our crest was was a five sided diamond with a Z like S due to the house of -EL being close to our family.

I heard someone coming, so I slipped it on and threw my orange camp shirt over it. I turned and saw it was no one and so I left and went to the beach to just listen to the sounds of the world. But my peace was not I heard the sounds of people crying out of help and some pleaded were Superwoman was? Now I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Was i really about to got out to the world an let them know mom was missing and they didn't have a hero to help them.

"No!" I thought getting up. I Zipped to the cabin so fast everyone was standing still. I got to my stuff and pulled out a black leather jacket, red gloves, and a pair of designer sunglasses. I then ran to the street near the camp and activated my suit. The Suit did and the biotech covered my body and changed colors. I was wear and red, blue, and black suit with black boots and I threw on my jacket gloves and glasses. Now I was ready, crouched down ans combining my super strength with super dexterity I perform highly accurate super leaps. leaping in the air I then shot off towards New York. The air felt great on me and I then saw one of the problems. A car was speeding out of control and just hit a ramp sending it into the air and about to smash a mother and her my speed I shot into the the cars way and caught it.

"What the" someone said as for some reason a radio was playing the superman theme song while I held the car over my head.  
"Is that a Superboy?" another man asked as I set the car down and shut if off. The drive got out and looked a little dizzy. Probably from the the drive and me hold him up.

"I turned to the small family that would've been crushed you okay" I asked. The child was a five year old boy who let go of his mothers hand and hugged my leg. I pleaded him off and handed him to his mother.

"Bless you Superboy." The woman said on the verge of tears.

"It's why I'm here." I said fling off to the next trouble. From the sky I could still hear the applause. I flew to a hold up and landed down smashing the ground beneath my feet.

"Who's that?" A criminal asked.

"Don't know but light him up." His partner said. They all shot at me and I just smirked as the bullets did nothing to me. I strolled over to them and grabbed their guns and bent them with ease.

"I'm Superboy" I stated as I threw them over to the cops. Then came the annoying part of this job; the press.

"Superboy Superboy over" reportes shouted to me as they wanted my info.

"Yes" I said pointing to a brown haired woman.

"Who are you and are you related in some way to Superwoman?" She asked.

"I am the Superboy; a Kryptonian like Superwoman. She is of my family and while she is away for some time. I will working to fill the void she left." I stated.

"Were did she go to?" A dark skin man asked.

"I can not say at this time. Now if you'll excuse me I have places to be." I finished taking flight. And with that I knew things were about to change as the world was introduced to Pey-Van the Superboy.

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**Hey my Doc manager is acting up and now for a while I will have to write some chapters short. Hope You enjoined this one. please review.**


	9. Chapter 8 part 2

**Greetings I checked over my chapter and review and somethings caught my eye. So I hope this is better now.****  
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**Chapter 8 part 2**

Getting back was easy and I told Chiron that I was in the woods all morning. The afternoon was boring as I really didn't have much of a challenge. But a few hours later I heard campers talking about me. Well not me; I mean Superboy. News traveled fast and before I knew it reports of my deeds were all around the world. That night dinner was in more spirit. Many were talking about Supy and saying all kinds of different stuff about him. I just shrugged it off and continued to eat my dinner. Finally it was time for capture the flag game. The conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. On the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"Do Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" I asked Luke.

"Not always," he responded. "But often."

"So whose side are we on?" He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look devilish in the torchlight.

"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

"Oh joy. Bashing people with a shield and slicing them with a sword." Our team was made of Athena, Apollo, and Hermes cabin. Which gave me a bad advantage I didn't know about. You see since their dad is Apollo; God of the Sun. I got a little power boost being around them. We were against Ares and every other camper there. The Dionysus's kids were good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff; but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters were no threat at all. They just sat out of every activity, usually checked their reflections in the lake, and did their hair and gossiped. The latest gossip for them was Superboy. They talked about thing like who would be best for him to be paired with.

There was only four Hephaestus's kids, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. Then, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else in the galaxy. Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magical items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

"Sounds like training after my seventh birthday." I thought. I decided to just go with a sword and basic armor to fight.

Annabeth yelled. "Blue team, forward!" They cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.

"Watch Clarisse's spear," Luke stated. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry."

"I think i'll take border patrol." I stated walking slower. It was a warm and sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. I then stood next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, waiting to keep the reds away. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, were balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball. There was a large chance somebody would actually attack me. And I decided to hang back and stay in the water. I really didn't want people to see me shatter a weapon with my body. Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. I still felt their solar radiation and so my powers were still increased.

Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I got on my guard; I shut my eyes and heard what was around me. The growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. A hell hound wanting to strike, but didn't. On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed. Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords. They ran at me and I kicked one in his two best friends. Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. I grabbed one end and felt a tingle all over my body. Electricity. Her stupid spear was electrified. I fell back and another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I forced myself down and hit the mud. They stood over me laughing.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair." I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt a tangle.

"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

"You should leave, before something bad happens. " I told her.

"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to of them came at me. I backed up in the creek and pulled a matrix move and grabbed them by the next and slammed them onto the ground.

"How did you do that?" Clarisse asked.

"Last chance leave me alone or I hurt you." They decided to go at me again, Clarisse went to stabbed me and my worst fear right now came true. The spear shattered against my body.

"How? How is that possible?" She asked in disbelief.

"Thank my dad for that." I said with a smirk. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I punched him hard enough to send him flying back some. Ugly Two and Three came at me. I kicked one in the face and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming.

I grabbed her fist and twisted it to the right and then slammed my knee into her gut. I let go and she held her gut in pain. Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was all a trick." They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. We'd won. I was about to leave the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said.

"Not bad, hero." I shot to look at her, but she wasn't there.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head. I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. She saw everything and now she could have a lead on my secret.

"You set me up," I spat. "You had me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." Annabeth shrugged.

"I told you. Athena always, always has a plan." I snapped then; I grabbed her neck and tossed her into a tree.

"You planed to get me killed!" I roared.

"I came as fast, cough, as I could. I was about to jump in, but; cough." She coughed "You didn't... need help." She got to her feet and breathed hard and after several minutes she asked.

"How did you do all that?"

"None of your business!" Annabeth was thinking hard. I could tell she was in pain as her breaths slowed down. After she seemed to recover, I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"Why?"

"Just do it." I came out of the creek and immediately felt a little bit of extra strength leave. A adrenaline rush I didn't know I had left me. I lost my balance for a bit, but re-positioned myself.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..." Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest. I quickly got into the water as the campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek.

"Stand ready!" Annabeth drew her sword. There on the rocks, just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. The hell hound I forgot about in all this madness. It was looking straight at me. Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled.

"Percy, run!" She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast and she was still weak. It leaped at me—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it was about to get me. I caught it in mid air. From there I slammed it down into the river with all my strength. The monster fell dead at my feet and soon turned to dust. Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hell hound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp." Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. I checked and I noticed his heart rate speed up. Like when someone tells a lie or worries about being caught. Clarisse yelled.

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"You want to go another round?" I asked her gritting my teeth.

"Children please be quit," Chiron told us. We watched the dust of the hell hound washed away in the water."

"Are you wounded?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." I said moving to exit the water.

"No, you're not fine," she said.

"Wow not even a week and I get this treatment." I said sarcastically.

"Chiron!" Annabeth said concerned, her heart rate rising. The whole camp gathered around me. "Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..." By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

"Yep." I smirked. Knowing this could make a nice cover story since I fought in the water. All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. Chiron spoke in a professional voice.

"Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God Poseidon."

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**Hope You enjoined. To MikeSonOfKratos and krasni thank you for your reviews; they have helped me in several ways. Please review.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Greetings, I have a new chapter for you all. **

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**Chapter 9 ****  
**

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three. And best of all, I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: my Superboy gear, my Kryptonite stash, and a small number of Kryptonite tech. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it(I don't usually need sleep), and best of all, I don't have to listen to anybody it felt really nice. I managed to talk the Hephaestus kids into making a solar ray tanning bed for me. Guess why. After that day nobody mentioned the hellhound.

I knew they were all talking about it behind my back and steered clear of me as much as possible. On the other side of the mirror Superboy was the biggest thing since my mom let the world know about Superwoman was. I cut my classes short and spent time wondering the world waiting for my quest.

I decided to to go to Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles (R.O.F.L. for short). It is a nice place to go and not worry about the troubles of life. it's run by Iris goddess of Rainbows, with the help of Fleecy a cloud nymphs. She is short and muscular, with lace-up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow T-shirt that read R.O.F.L. Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. She looks young, but her hair is frizzy white, sticking out on either side of her head like the white of a giant fried egg. Her eyes are really distracting because her irises changed color from grey to black to white. I work to help with heavy lifting and aside from the food I enjoy it very much.

Iris told me if I ever wanted a full time job she'd always have one open for me. Then of course we get to Ella the book harpy of the group. I adored her in a way one would care for a little sister. Fleecy on the other hand tended to blush around me and even try to get me to remove my shirts. So some days after I was claimed I was moving statues of the Gods for Iris when Ella came up to me showing me a book with a picture of Kryptonian symbols.

"The house of -EL will saved Earth from War." I translated. She looked at the book and then went to one of her quote sprees.

"-EL. Kal-el; son of Jor-el. Jor-el a scientist. Scientist-"

"Ella. Please not while i'm working." I said setting the statue down and pulling out a cinnamon roll to give her. Her mouth shut and eyes shot open. She snatched it way and went back to the nest of books.

"Percy?" Fleecy said walking into the room."You should she this." She handed me a copy of the _New York Daily News, _opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.

_**BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER**_ _**FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**_

_**BY EILEEN SMYTHE**_

_**Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken.**_

_**The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.**_

_**Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.**_

_**Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.**_

_**Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.**_

The phone number was circled in black marker. I got mad and incinerated it with my heat vision.

"Percy. I was still working on the crossword puzzle." Fleecy cried.

"Sorry." I said glad that her my secret was safe. Iris knew of my powers and Fleecy and Ella swore never to tell a soul or monster my secret. I left later and went back to Camp Half-Blood for some next morning I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.

"Come in?" Grover trotted inside, looking worried.

"Mr. D wants to see you."

"Why?"

"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."

I got dressed and even wore my R.O.F.L. shirt then I followed.

Finally I'd been summoned to the Big House. Even now that I was declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids. Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel chair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little cele...bri...ty. Where did you get that shirt."

"Your mothers." I said. Grover wanted to laugh but didn't out of fear. Mr.D examined me and then noticed the box in my pocket and I could tell he still feared what was in it.

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father." My guess he figured best not to fight me. I let the last part fly. Seeing as how he did deserve some respect. A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house. "Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said. Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"Kid that is Iris's ridicules T-shirt design, why are you wearing it?"

"She gave it to me after last night."

"Percy?" Grover asked concerned.

"Don't worry Grover it was a joke. She makes her employees wear them."

"When did you work for Iris?" Chiron asked.

"Few days ago. It's were I was, when I disappeared."

"Well, glad to know you were with someone we can trust." Chrion said, a sai of relief.

"Well I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting.I hope you won't be here when I return." He said picking up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A security pass. He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind. Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained.

"Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."

We did. Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.

"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

"It was okay not really something to fear as long as I was in the water."

"But it wouldn't matter if you were in the water would it?" He asked surprising me.

"What?" I asked surprised.

We'll talk about that latter but for now you have been assigned a quest." I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

"About time." I said. Chiron grimaced. Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?" Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair.

"How did you know that?"

"Zeus wouldn't make this much of a fuss if something important was missing. Plus Iris told me."

"I knew it," Grover said.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"

"Only the Oracle can determine."

Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."

"Oh joy. A sparky stick."

"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned.

"I know Chiron. It's just of all things."

"You'd think he'd have a better hold on."Grover said.

"That's what she said." I laughed. So did Chiron surprisingly.

"Anyway Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war-"

"Chiron that's basics 101." I said losing interest.

"It was Stolen, by you." Chiron said.

"What were you all drinking that night?" I asked in a non concerned voice. Because it must have been some great stuff.

"Well ah that's at least"—Chiron held up a hand—"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot take another god's symbol of power directly. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

"Zeus is crazy!" I said plainly. Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky.

"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the _c_-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"What the f*%$ dose that have to do with this."

"I mean crazy." He said surprised by my words.

"OH!"

"Perhaps _paranoid," _Chiron suggested. "Anyway, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along—the proverbial last straw."

"Well it dose make sense. I guess, it it still is crazy." I stated. Chiron smiled glad I was coming around some.

"Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. Ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down."

"So now I'm needed to step in and save the day?" I guessed.

"You agree then?" Chiron asked. I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah." I said. "I am in, to save the gods from themselves."

"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. Four flights up and a old later later. I was in the attic. It was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled _things_—severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: The mummy Oracle. A human female body shriveled to a husk, wearing a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. Skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time. Looking at her sent chills up my back. She should've been in a tomb by now but of course with the spirit trapped they couldn't get rid of her.

Then she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain:

_**"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask."** _I forced myself to take a deep breath.

"What is my destiny?"

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four people standing before me; Zod, Jor-el, Kal-el and mom: Mara Van-le .

Jor-el turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle:** _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._**

Mom said in the same voice: **_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._**

Kal-el then said: **_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._**

Finally, Zod delivered the worst line of all: **_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._**

The figures began to dissolve, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy. I Couldn't Understand what Kal-el or Zod would have to do with this but the last lines had me more concerned

The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos. My audience with the Oracle was over.

"Well?" Chiron asked me as I came down. I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table.

"She said I would retrieve the Bolt." Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can.

"That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say _exactly?" _Chiron pressed. "This is important."

My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She said I would go west and face a god who had turned. Retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned. You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend. And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

"Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass." I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.

"Okay," I said. "Well in the west would be the Underworld and Hades would have something to gain from all this.

"Ah, Percy," Chiron said. "You are just a child. You need help to do this. Find the bolt and you may gain more support."

"Well Iris will stand by me."

"You'll need more then one Goddess." Grover said.

"Okay so who do you want me to take on this quest?" I said plainly.

Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.

"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you."

"Oh..." He shifted his hooves. "No... it's just that satyrs and underground places... well..." He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down." Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.

"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron.

"Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."

"Gee," I said lifting my hand up and flicked the air. The air shimmered and a the grass looked like it was walked rolled on. Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket and getting up from the grass.

"How did you know-" Grover asked.

"She breathes hard and I could hear her."

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain," she said walking up to us. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon,

but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"Your sentence didn't help you." I said. She looked a little scared like I wouldn't pick her. "But I suppose you do deserve to go, Wise Girl. So you can come." Annabeth grew a large smile on her face.

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

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**Okay, hope you enjoyed. Please review.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Greetings. I decided to update for this story so please enjoy.**

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**Chapter 10 Lanterns Light**

It didn't take me long to pack. Thanks to nano tech, I could fit all my stuff in my bag, I didn't want anyone to get their hands on the kryptonian tech I had. The camp store loaned us a hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. Chiron gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday,"both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things." I heard footsteps behind us. Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you." Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around. It gave it away that she had feelings for him. The others looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal. "Maia!" White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said. Luke smiled.

"Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..."All this did help really. I had this feeling that this was part of something. He was acting like he was hiding something, so I decided to play along.

"Hey, man. Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?" We shook hands and I put a little of strength in it nearly breaking his hand. He retracted holding in . He shrugged it off and patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out. I got to say it was getting it annoy me. After Luke was gone, I told her;

"You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"

"Well then you can stay here and I can take Luke instead." She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys. I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron.

"I won't be able to use these, will I?" I asked as if I didn't know. He looked at me as if he was questioning why I asked.

"Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you." I nodded, and then I got an idea.

"Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?" His eyes lit up.

"Me?" Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.

"Maia!" he shouted. He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van. I had to laugh at that. It reminded me of the time I had first learned to fly at age 6. Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm.

"I know you have things to hide, but don't let that stop you from doing what needs to be done. Don't hide from who you are." I gave him a look.

"Your father told me. Pey-Van, I swore not to tell anyone else. And I can't let you go without this." He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.

"Thanks." I said.

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years." I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand. "The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"'Riptide,'" I translated.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. And I should warn you: a demigod, can be killed by either celestial and normal weapons. they are twice as vulnerable."

"Good to know."

"But with your invulnerability you aren't effected by such weapons. Now recap the pen." I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket.

"You can't," Chiron said.

"Can't what?"

"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down. Which made a twinkle in the sky.

"That may have been a little over board. It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket." Sure enough, the pen was there.

"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. Chiron smiled. I put Riptide back in my pocket. When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur. Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. I have to say i've been practically all over the world and this was boring me. I really wanted to catch up on this lead my mom had on a girl that was said to be able to do wonders.(A/N: hint hint)

"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster." She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Remind me again—why did I bring?"

"Oh, forget it."

"I mean you haven't been that nice to me."

"I said, forget it!" In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY? I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice. Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. I was really tempted to string Gabe up and take a blow torch to him for the stuff he was putting on me. Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking.

"You want to know why she married him, Percy?"

"Go ahead and guess."

"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura…. Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."

"Close." I said turning to leave.

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."

"G-man there is a lot of things about my family you think you know but don't." I said knowing he'd drop the subject. We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself for a first time player. The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared—core, stem, and all.

Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up. Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy—enchiladas.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

But I could tell it wasn't nothing. When we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our back packs. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh. As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.

"Percy." An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my fist tightened. It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face. Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat.

Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, popping my kniuckles

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!" "It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" she suggested. There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"When the do keep hidden." I said We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain. Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus:

"I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister. They all started coming down the aisle.

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?"

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"Yeah. NO." I said suddenly going into super speed and knocked her and Grover. I then went back to normal speed and snaped my fingures and used the mist. The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn't get any uglier—but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips. The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right. I zoomed into the rest room and quickly got into my Superboy gear.

The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rear-view mirror. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins. The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass. The Furies regained their balance.

"Sup!" I smirked. The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.

"Oh so you decided to play dress up." Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her. She growled. I cracked my knuckles The Furies hesitated.

"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," I told her. Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my right hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me. I inhaled and exhaled a releasing a frosty breeze on the other two. They started to freeze in ice. I jerked my right arm back forcing to fly towards me. I grabbed he neck and tossed he down and put my foot on her chest. I then heard some one whisper:

_**In brightest day, through Blackest Night,**_

_**No evil will escape my the light;**_

_**Let those who try to stop what's right,**_

_**Burn like my power, Green Lantern's Light!**_

Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have strength like mine so she was stuck under my foot.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

"I'd like to see him try." I yelled in Kryptonian. Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.

The other Furies finally unfroze and go up to attack me but we stopped by the sound of gun fire and holes in their bodies. The suddenly turned into dust. I slammed my foot down and turned into dust as well. It was then I noticed that other passengers were off the bus and that we had stopped long ago. Kinda got caught up in the moment. I turned to see who had backed me up. He was about 5'5, age 15, and dark skin. He wore a green ring that was glowing, A tight black and green suit like a wrestler would wear. The top was green with black streaks going down it. He also wore green boots and gloves. A green mask was over his eyes, and lastly a white circle on his chest that had a green lantern like symbol in it.

"Thanks." I told him. He staird at me.

"Wait your him. Superboy." He said amazed.

"Yeah and you are."

"Green Lantern." He said.

"Well green Lantern I appreciate the help."

"No problem."

"Listen I have some were I need to be. I hope to see you again." He took out a slip of paper and created a pen with his ring.

"Later" He said handing it to me and left the bus. I looked at it and it read:

**Green Lantern**

**(586)598-2658**

I gathered Annabeth, Grover, and our stuff. I then super sprinted and headed for the woods. I set them far in the woods and ran back. In a distance I could see Green Lantern talking with the people trying to explain to the people. I smirked. This world was full of heroes, and I felt a little less alone.

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**Okay I hope you enjoyed. Please review.**

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**Character Bio**

**Name:** Marcus Williams

**Aka**: Green Lantern

**Ht**: 5'5 **Wt**:115

**Origin**

Marcus Williams was an just an average African-American guy. When he was ten years old, he saw his mother gun downs for less the 5 dollars and her wedding ring. As he grew up he and his family found themselves falling great stress in financial ruin. Marcus was fired from his job and in a moment of desperation he steals the wrong car, which inadvertently steers him into a terrorism probe. Out of nowhere he is unexpectedly call to join the universe's galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

**Abilities**

Indomitable Will

**Equipment**

Green Lantern Power Battery

**Weapons**

Green Lantern Ring

**Oath**

In brightest day, through Blackest Night,

No evil will escape my the light;

Let those who try to stop what's right,

Burn like my power, Green Lantern's Light!


	12. Chapter 11

**Greetings. I was on a roll, so please enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

There seems to be costume heroes popping up everywhere. You'll understand later. So I zipped on back to Grover and Annabeth , and before they could wake up I changed back into my regular clothes and waited. The finally woke up and Annabeth asked.

"What happened?"

"Superboy and Green Lantern took care of the old hags and gave us time to escape. " I told them

"Ah man." Grover pouted

"He was there and I get knocked out." Annabeth pouted just like Grover. "Wait who's Green Lantern?"

"I'm sure you'll all find out later." I said as we began our walk. We were walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror.

"Three Kindly Ones. All three at once." He said. Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better." I nodded and reached into my bag and pulled out my Ipod. After several minutes of listening to Green Day, the thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. Thankfully supervision helped me see everything fine. I turned my attention to Annabeth when she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yes."

"What was he like." Annabeth asked.

"Who?"

"Superboy." She said blushing. But she didn't I could see he doing that though.

"Tall, muscular, full of confidence. Why?"

"Well I-" She interrupted by a shrill _toot-toot-toot, _like the sound of an owl being tortured.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried.

"If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and broke it in half. After I got up and we walked for awhile. I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. I realized I hadn't eaten anything in some time. And a hungry Kryptonian is something you don't get in the of. We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

It wasn't a fast-food restaurant. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was rather bright But I read:

_**Aunty EM'S Garden Gnome Emporium.**_

"What the heck does that say?" I asked to make it seem like I was having trouble reading it..

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Grover translated. Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken. I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.

"Hey ..." Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," I said wistfully.

"Snack bar," she agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." We ignored him. I was hungry and need food. The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

_"Bla-ha-ha!" _he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

"Weird" I told him. We stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him.

"All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me." Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman—at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady. Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said,

"Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say.

"We're orphans," I said.

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"It was a horrible accident ." I said pulling a old trick I used to pull on my teachers. I would have to thank mom again for teaching me to be a good actor to better hide our secret. "My parents were killed in a fire that was caused by our land lord being a terrible tobacco overdoser. Oh there was tobacco spit all over his apartment. Then one day he decided to light one up and when it fell from his mouth the whole building went up like a Christmas tree. I was at school and my parents were taking the day off to go over the pile of bills we had no money to pay. When I go home it was like a scene from that old Star Wars movie. I was put with many different adoptive parents each one worse the the last. Till finally I ran away. And meet these two." Every looked at me in shock. "Annabeth's father was abusive and liked to collect Guns. One night he forced the whole family to play Russian roulette. She was the last one to play and everyone else was dead. So out of fear she ran like me till finding me and Grover. Grover's Parents were fond of the drink."

"They were alcoholics?" The woman asked.

"No they were hit by a Guinness truck. So it was in many ways the drink that killed them." I cried.

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area." We thanked her and went inside. Annabeth muttered to me,

"What was that?"

"That my dear was acting." I smirked

The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. But mostly, I was thinking about food. Go ahead, call me an idiot for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hey, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair—it made everything else go away. I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us.

All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Awesome," I said whipping the fake tears from my face.

"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am." Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said,

"No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said. Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done some thing wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, I the got deep in thought trying to remember something my mom once told me.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.

I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe.

Annabeth slurped her shake. Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" Grover asked. I listened, and heard it too. Annabeth shook her head.

"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins. For my ears." I gave him a look.

"That's admirable," she said.

"But please, relax." Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied. That was when I remembered what my mom had told me.

**_"Percy monsters of all kinds have been reborn in our time. Many will twist their name to hide who they are. Remember to be on the look for them."_** That's when I thought.

"Aunty EM. No what about Aunty M. M? Oh please no." I thought. So I decided to play her on whit small talk. "So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested.

"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?"

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get." My neck tingled.

"Yep Medusa." I thought I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues. This one's face looked as if she were startled, or even terrified.

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make these statues yourself?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real.

"Well played" I thought. Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said,

"Two sisters?"

"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."

"Man she is just proving my theory." I thought. I knew Annabeth was thinking same.

"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention. "Maybe we should go. Well have a long way to go" She sounded tense. Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now,

"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.

"We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "A long way to go." I didn't want to leave yet. I had to put this monster 10 feet in the ground.

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children." Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"

"Sure we can," I said.

"It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

"Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues. Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."

"Not much light for a photo," I remarked.

"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.

Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?" Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled,

"That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."

"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear." She still had no camera in her hands.

"Percy—" Annabeth said.

"When the time is right keep your and Grover's eyes closed." I told her.

"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."

"Something's wrong." Annabeth insisted.

"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That _is _Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.

"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She shut her and Grover's eyes. And to make sure I they didn't noticed I zipped them outside and used the mist to make a fake me. I went back in and locked them out.

Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes turned to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. More rasping—the sound of tiny snakes, I turned and looked right into her face.

"What is going on?"

"Sorry you eyes don't work on me. " I smirked. I knew he eyes were magic so as long as I had my Kr. suit on; even if it wasn't in full armor. I wouldn't be turned to stone. I punched her back and she flew onto a table.

"Who are you. Your not Percy Jackson."

"Of but you are wrong. But if you must believe that, call me Pey-Van" I smirked. She got up and tossed the table at me. I held up my hand and caught it easy.

"Tell me what hope do you have against me without your eye's magic." I said. she looked at me in horror and backed away. I pulled out my sword and zipped behind her.I raised my hands and cut her head off off like a knife with butter. I stared at the thing. I found a bag and placed it in it. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS! I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden. According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.

In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins. I rummaged around the rest of the office until I found the right-size box.

I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:

_**The Gods**_

**_Mount_ _Olympus_**

_**600th Floor,**_

**_Empire_ _State Building_**

_**New York, NY**_

_**With best wishes,**_

_**PERCY JACKSON**_

I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop! I did made some food for later and put on my glasses and activated my armor. I remembered my jacket was in my bag and Grover had it. So I loaded the all the food I could into three back and flew out the roof. I found the other in the woods a fire helped me find the easy.

"Hey there." I said in a different voice. Thank Rao for advance muscle control. "I was flying by and I thought you might be hungry."

I placed the food down and Grover looked at me weird and Annabeth looked at me with a blush on her face.

"Thanks but we had just eaten." Annabeth said. I smiled and she got even darker shade of red.

"Well I must be going. People need my help I said flying off." I landed some distance behind them and changed back into Percy. I snapped my fingers allowing me a way to come in. "What I miss." I said coming into their view.

"Only Superboy." Annabeth in a daze. "Great." I grumbled in my mind. "Even she's got thing for me." 

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**Okay I hope you enjoyed. To Phoenician Rose: I did change GL's oath. I figured give him his own oath, different from the usual one. Also sdoyle1989 asked who else was I going to going to bring in to this story! Well in this story I have so far brought in Superboy and Green Lantern. I have also mentioned Wonder Girl (but she will be for a later time). I plan to go through the books. So in the lightning thief Percy will meet Green Lantern and Impulse. I know ****MikeSonOfKratos asked for the Flash. But I see the Flash as something a speedster would have to earn to have that name. Like how Percy is working to earn the name Superman. I hate to ask but do you have any ideas for villians for Percy to fight. I mean like small time supervillians like Toyman or ****Riddler. I already have a sort of Lex Luthor character for Percy in mind. So if you have any in mind please tell me. Okay thank you again for reading and if you would p****lease review.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Greetings. I was on a roll, so please enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

I was pretty miserable that night. We camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers. We'd taken some extra supplies from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else. We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch. Since I didn't need sleep I knew I could take the whole night. I watched as Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky.

"Go ahead and sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble." He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes.

"It makes me sad, Percy."

"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?"

"No. This makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground."

"And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're an environmentalist." He glared at me.

"Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast … ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human."

"What makes you think I have a once of human in me."

"What?" He asked. I snapped my fingers to use the mist so Annabeth wouldn't hear us.

"Grover what I am about to say must stay here. I need you to swear on the river Styx never to tell anyone unless I say you can."

"I swear."

"My mom was never human. Her birth name wasn't even Sally Jackson. It's Mara Van-le. But ever one knows her as Superwoman."

"Your mom is-"

"Indeed."

"But what does that make you?"

"A demigod. But in some was just a evolve Kryptonian since the gods have no DNA."

"What's your real name?"

"Pey-Van."

"How much do you know about the Gods?"

"Everything. My mom wanted me to know everything I would need to know to survive." A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rainwater, things that might've once been in these woods. "Watch this." I said getting up. I moved like a twister and in hardly any time I cleaned the whole woods.

"Wow." Grover said amazed.

"Grover you've entered a whole new world. A world of beings though mortal are like gods themselves." We talked for awhile till he fell asleep. Before long it was daylight. We used some of the money, and bought tickets to Los Angeles. We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax. I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity. I tried to keep a low profile because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers.

The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick. The picture's caption read:

**Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.**

"Don't worry," Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure. The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows. Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.

Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed. Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"What?" I asked.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Once or twice."

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

I laughed. "You? An architect?" I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day. Her cheeks flushed.

"Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

"And yet she never had any involvement in the creation or been to the fortress of solitude. "

"Okay, sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."

"For Rao's sake could we try to work together."

"I suppose," she said at last. "Wait who's Rao?"

"No one." I said as we pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver. Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said.

"Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" Grover and I exchanged looks. I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone. Grover shrugged.

"As long as there's a snack bar without monsters." The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay. I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line.

"You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover. He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff.

"Underground," he said distastefully. "Under ground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything." But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.

"Guys," I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?" Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over.

"Yeah?**"**

"Well, Our friend way downstairs. With the Helm of Darkness,"

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"How do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked. Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.

"We don't," Grover said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it. We started going up, inside the Arch.

"No parents?" the fat lady asked us. She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings." The Chihuahua growled. The woman said,

"Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious. I said,

"Sonny. Is that his name?"

"No," the lady told me. She smiled, as if that cleared everything up. At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick.

Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes. I steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and I was about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me. The park ranger said,

"Next car, sir."

"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you." But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said,

"Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom." Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp. Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a 10 year old with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua. I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth. I know really dumb to do that. I mean might as well scream 'I'm a monster here to east you. Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me.

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Not good" said the little boy. His parents pulled him back. The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips.

"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist." Ice started forming in my stomach. "Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"

"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side ways slits, like a reptile's. The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar. The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read:

**CHIMERA—RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS—EXT. 954.**

I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge. The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter.

"Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

I stared at her and then smirked. "Isn't that a kind of anteater?" She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage.

"I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!" I smirked as I used the mist to alter what I thought was everyone and managed to activate my armor and get my gear on. The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite. I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors. I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled,

"Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster at me. But then a blur spun around it and formed a tornado and before too long there was golden dust everywhere. When it stopped I saw who it was. the little kid was dressed in red hoody jacket that had a yellow lightning bolt on it, red pants, red and yellow converse shoes, and red goggles to cover his eyes. He was as tall as my chest with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Ah crash man." He said looking over me. "Your him the Superboy."

"Yes and you are?"

"I'm Impulse. Fastest kid there is."

"That could be considered a that's what she said moment."

"Ah man your right."

"How dare you you little brat." Echidna spat.

"You want to take her?" I asked. Impulse smiled and ran up to Echidna Punched her several times in the face ran behind Echidna kicking many times. Ran back in front and punched Echidna in the gut, and finally jumped up kick Echidna in the back knocking her down. Impulse then kicked Echidna of the side of the deck making her disappear. "Nice job."

"Thanks." Impulse said. The adults went down in he elevator and left us to talk.

"So what's you story?" I asked.

"well I'm impulse son of the real Roman god Mercury. Fastest kid alive."

"Son of a Roman god." Percy thought."Tell me if you know this how come monsters don't attack you?" Percy asked.

"Oh they do. But my mom once told me that my dad had blessed his son with speed second only to him and Superwoman. So like her and well you. I became Impulse. That way I can fight and keep my parents safe."

"Well impulse I have to go. But I think we will see each other again soon." I said leaping over the edge into the water.

"All I could hear on the way down was. 'That was so crash.' "

* * *

**Name:** Steven Rayner

**Aka**: Impulse, Fastest Kid there is.

**Ht:**4,4 **Wt**:78

**Origin**

Born the son of a track runner and The god Roman of speed, Steven Rayner was always a hyper child. His dyslexia was higher than most children and made him impossible to stay still. At a young age he loved to run and by accident went so fast he made in to China in seconds. After being told of his origin, Steven learned to control his speed and decided that with his gift he would help people. And thus Impulse was born.

**Abilities**

Super speed

**Equipment**

Goggles

**Weapon**

N/A


	14. Chapter 13

**Greetings. Here's the next chapter for those who have waited for the update. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

I never really had a problem falling. I could fly but it felt good to fall. The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind wiped past me. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision. And then: _Flaaa-boooom!_

I sank through the murk, I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage—beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags—swirled up all around me.

I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.

I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.

"Man this is always cool."

I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry.

I stood up, thigh-deep in mud. A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.

There, not five feet in front of me, was my sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.

Then, through the gloom, I saw a woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.

"Sup?"

_" must go to the beach in Santa Monica."_

"Were you trying to quote star wars in different words?"

_It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence. And no I wasn't." _

"Give me a sec." I said before I used a bit of a sand dollar. Fun fact, sand dollars can clear water pollution.

There was so much I wanted to ask, the words jammed up in my throat.

_I I,thank you my prince. _the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress.

_You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts..._

Her voice faded.

"Gifts?" I asked. "Oh great!" I complained.

I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. Then I kicked up through the dirt and swam for the surface. I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's. A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve. A little girl said,

"Mama! That boy walked out of the river."

"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

"But he's dry!"

"That's nice, dear."

A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

_Survivors. _I felt a surge of relief. Impulse did get them to safety and I knew Annabeth and Grover were okay.

"... an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities …" I walked away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere. I'd almost got away when a familiar voice bleated,

"Perrr-cy!" I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug—or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!" Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me.

"We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

"I don't what it is but we seem to be some sort of magnet for costume heroes. I just meet some kid named impulse who has super speed."

"Cool." Grover stated

I pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

I told them the whole story of, my high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.

"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, and I almost froze in my tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities. _And _the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson." We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

"First things first," I told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"

Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

"okay hold on." I said creating a rainbow with my water powers. "

Annabeth held her palm out to me. "Drachma, please."

I handed it over.

She raised the coin over her head.

"_O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show."_

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a voice said.

"Sure thing handsome." I blushed wishing she had not said that. I was then looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" I called.

He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow.

"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face.

"We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. "What kind of issues?"

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus—Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how—probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus." I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side for anything. In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically. "So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you." I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off.

"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him. But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly. That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible." We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said. "Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me." I wondered if Annabeth would like that description. In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash. "You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."

"Yep!" I lied. "Yeah, they've come in handy."

"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"I cut off the water. The mist started to evaporated.

"oops." I smirked. "Come on, let's find some dinner." I told the two I had something to do so I sent them to a diner while I got some stuff I would need for my plan. Several minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

"We, um, want to order dinner." Grover started

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum.

Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.

I was about to come over when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather—but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin. The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen— handsome, I guess, but wicked—with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights.

Ares." I thought. As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?" The biker said,

"It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

"You know. Some would question that." I said walking up to them using a accent. The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades. He gave me a wicked grin.

"So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh? You don't look like what they said." I smirked, I was dressed in sort of a geek chic. I wore a blue (with rust red pinstripes) four-buttoned suit, a shirt and a tie, and black converse. I dyed my hair dark brown,and wore it in a fifties-style quiff.

"Thanks." I smirked."I was going for that." Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning.

"Percy?"

"Of course." I smiled and still using my accent.

"Why do you sound British? and were did you get those clothes?"

"Ah but that is for another time. Now then Ares what is it that you want?" I said.

"Hehehehe." He laughed. "Nice I'm here for—I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food—cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. Ares handed her a few gold drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins.

"But, these aren't..." Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails.

"Problem, sweetheart?" The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.

"Must you do that?" I asked Ares. Ares laughed.

"Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."

"What favor could I do for a god?"

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

"Why?" The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.

"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

"Well no need to get you nickers in a twist. I said leaning back. "And by the way." I reached into my jacket and pulled out a small lead box. "I could beat you without attacking you."

"The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?" Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.

"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me." After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good." I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared.

"Ares acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?" Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other. Annabeth said,

"I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," I said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see if he doesn't care."

"Percy," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."

"Why? I thought you hated Ares."

"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."

"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added. I jump over the gate and turned to them

"I don't give a monkeys about that. Any road up."

"What?" Grover asked.

"I said I don't care about that anyway."

Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing.

"You coming?" I asked. Annabeth climbed the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top. The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?

No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slightest noise. We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—

"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah," I said.

She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all two of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.

We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE! Grover crept toward the edge.

"Guys, look." Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

"This is too easy," I said. "So we just walk down there and get it?" Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.

"There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."

"Grover," I said, "you smell any monsters?" He sniffed the wind.

"Nothing."

"Okay, I'm going down there."

"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feeling he was trying to make up for what had happened in St. Louis.

"No," I told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong." Grover puffed up his chest a little.

"Sure. But what could go wrong?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me—"

"Are you kidding?" She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red.

"What's the problem now?" I demanded.

"Me, go with you to the ... the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"

"You need to buck up your ideas, young lady."

"Stop with the British talk." Annabeth shouted.

"Fine, fine." I told her. "I'll do it myself." But when I started down the side of the pool, she followed me, muttering about how boys always messed things up.

We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of gods meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why? Then I noticed something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That must be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other they could look at their favorite people: themselves.

I picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel. Something good. I smiled, I then shrugged and put it in my pocket.

"Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic." Annabeth said holding out her hand for me to give it to her.

"Try and take it." I said.

"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here." The moment I touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble. My hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A cobweb, I thought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire.

"Wait," Annabeth said.

"Too late."

"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap." Noise erupted all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine. Grover yelled, "Guys!" Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

"Annabeth." I said.

"What?" Annabeth said.

"Run!" I said grabbing the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.

"Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands. The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed:

"Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..."

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid.' Eta is H.' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!" We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic ... things poured out. Annabeth screamed. It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.

"Spiders!" Annabeth said. "Sp—sp—aaaah!" I'd never seen her like this before. She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her back toward the boat. The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. Annabeth and I climbed into the boat. I started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard. I yelled at Annabeth to help me, but she was too paralyzed to do much more than scream.

"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker. The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. I kicked one away from Annabeth's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe. Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't , I told myself. Think. The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called. Then I got the idea.

"Grover!" I yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"

"But—"

"Do it!" I ordered. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I had to get us out of there. Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.

"Five, four—"

Grover looked up at me hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting me know that he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening. I rolled my eyes and summoned my water powers.

"Two, one, _zero_!"

Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool. The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst. Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.

But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. At least, it didn't break into a million pieces. We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness. Annabeth and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff.

Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit. If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade—one submerged, the other cracked in half.

"Unfasten your seat belt," I yelled to Annabeth.

"Are you crazy?"

"Unless you want to get smashed to death." I strapped Ares' shield to my arm. "We're going to have to jump for it." My idea was simple and insane. As the boat struck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool. Annabeth seemed to understand. She gripped my hand as the gates got closer.

"On my mark," I said.

"No! On my mark!"

"What?"

"Simple physics!" she yelled. "Force times the trajectory angle—"

"I could leave you here you know'" I shouted. "Plus that don't have anything on me."

"Fine." I held onto Annabeth and super jumped. We landed safely and Annabeth's jaw hit the floor.

_Crack!_ Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid asphalt.

A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming.

The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces.

"Show's over Gents!" I yelled in British accent. "Thank you! G'nite!" The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good. I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experience handling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. I hefted the shield on my arm and turned to my friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

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**Okay I hope you enjoyed. Please review.**


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